Williams, 37, was not seeded at the French Open, her first Grand Slam appearance following her return, but was given a seeding of 25 for Wimbledon, despite being outside the top 32 in the rankings. She is now ranked 16th and will be seeded for next month's Australian Open.

The WTA's rule change comes after the organisation canvassed the opinions of players earlier in the year.

World number one Simona Halep and five-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova had both offered their support to Williams, but others like Petra Kvitova, Victoria Azarenka and Johanna Konta expressed reservations.

Williams added: "I think having gone through the experience myself really opened my eyes. Would have I done it sooner had there been different rule changes? I don't know. But now there is an opportunity, people don't have to ask that question."

The 23-time Grand Slam champion will be in action against sister Venus in Abu Dhabi on Thursday in her first match since September's US Open final defeat by Japan's Naomi Osaka. That match was overshadowed by her outburst at chair umpire Carlos Ramos, whom she called a "liar" and "thief".

She was docked a game for verbal abuse following a point penalty for racquet smashing and a code violation for coaching. She was subsequently fined for her outbursts.